Gov addresses fort's future

Job-saving Tech Preserve proposal wins support

Mar. 15, 2007

Written by

KEITH BROWN

COASTAL MONMOUTH BUREAU

BEHIND THE NEWS

Fort Monmouth was recommended for closure by the Pentagon in May 2005.

In August 2005, the federal Base Realignment and Closure commission voted to close the post, a decision upheld by President Bush and Congress.

The 90-year-old post, which has more than 5,000 civilian and military employees, is to be closed by 2011.

The bulk of its mission for research and development of communications, surveillance and reconnaissance systems will be transferred to Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland.

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MIDDLETOWN — Gov. Corzine on Wednesday endorsed turning Fort Monmouth's federal employees into private industry defense contractors in a proposal that aims to stem the loss of jobs and steel the state against economic hemorrhage when the Army post closes in four years.

To a group of nearly 500 people at Brookdale Community College, Corzine championed the conceptual plan — called Tech Preserve — in a 30-minute speech intended to highlight the state's commitment to the successful redevelopment of the fort, which represents an estimated $3.2 billion annual economic engine for New Jersey.

"Fort Monmouth is going to be the epicenter of where we put our efforts to make sure we have sustainable growth," Corzine said.

He also lauded the efforts of the fort's redevelopment authority and touted Fort Monmouth's potential to become a "high-tech corridor" where state-sponsored initiatives such as renewable energy research, stem-cell research and nanotechnology could be conducted.

Corzine's speech was well-received by some members of the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Planning Authority — the 10-member panel charged with charting future uses for the fort property.

"It's nice to know he is concerned about it (Fort Monmouth) and that he is behind us," said Lucille Chaump, Oceanport mayor and member of the redevelopment authority. "This is the first time he's spoken publicly about Fort Monmouth. I think the state needs to know he is behind its redevelopment."

Corzine said he was "personally interested" in the Tech Preserve plan, which calls for creating a partnership among a private company or companies, the state and the Army. It aims to absorb at least some of the fort's 5,000 civilian employees while the post's mission is transferred to Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland by 2011.

Tech Preserve was developed by the Patriots Alliance — a group of defense contractors who also spearheaded the ultimately failed effort to keep Fort Monmouth off the 2005 closure lists during the most recent Base Realignment and Closure round.

Once the transition to Aberdeen is complete, the Tech Preserve plan would move the fort's employees into other government contract work, still based in New Jersey.

The partnership, advocates have said, would assure an uninterrupted continuation of the fort's mission during the transition to Aberdeen — a condition of Fort Monmouth's closure imposed by the federal commission that ordered it shuttered.

"I'm not saying it's a panacea, or a silver bullet," Corzine said. "But it's an idea that certainly should be looked at, and we will be working on it."

Favorable impressions

Frank Muzzi, co-founder of the Patriots Alliance, said he was "very pleased" but not surprised by Corzine's endorsement. Muzzi said Corzine also has agreed to budget for $34,000 so the alliance can hire an independent source to analyze the Tech Preserve business plan before the alliance presses the Department of Defense to accept it.

The redevelopment authority has agreed to set up a subcommittee to examine the plan.

Eatontown Mayor Gerald Tarantolo, however, said he was less excited about Tech Preserve than Corzine's talk about renewable energies and other high-tech initiatives that also could stem the projected job loss.

"My concern about Tech Preserve is its sustainability," said Tarantolo, who also sits on the fort's redevelopment authority.

Corzine's speech comes as the redevelopment authority — created in April — will begin ramping up its efforts.

The authority has convened at 12 public meetings, hired the majority of its staff, and closed out the first portion of the redevelopment process when the March 8 window for dibs on fort property closed on government and other nonprofit organizations seeking free or reduced-price property, according to Frank Cosentino, the authority's executive director.

The authority will begin to sift through the "substantive number" of land requests before passing them on to the Department of Defense for consideration. The authority also is in the process of selecting a host of professional consultants to help guide the panel's decisions as it creates a redevelopment plan for the post's more than 1,100 acres, Cosentino has said.